Regardless of your preference for a particular platform to play, it is undeniable that PCs usually are the place to experience video games at their optimal setting (fight me, console players). You see these big phrases all the time — “4K Display”, “Ray-tracing On”, “over 100FPS” — things that will make your eyes water over the prospect of playing the latest games with those features.
But the road to #PCMasterRace can be difficult for some who are starting their journeys for the first time, which mostly requires more than casual knowledge. If you happen to be technologically unsavvy, building your own PC will take some time to learn and gain confidence in (for example, what are these spare wires for, yikes!).
Well, that’s where bespoke PC and specialised peripheral builders come in — they not only simplify the part-picking process by curating an expertly-picked selection for you, but also help put your rig together. Today, we’re looking at Dreamcore and it’s sister-brand SuperSolid, who do just that!
But what does that entail exactly, and is it really worth buying every computer component from just a couple of brands for convenience? Let’s find out!
We’ve got ourselves a Dreamcore Fuel rig, coupled with SuperSolid’s proprietary monitor and keyboard too. The only thing missing from the set is a mouse (so we’ve just gone with our own mouse for now) – making this pretty much a full-fledged gaming setup made entirely by Dreamcore and SuperSolid!
Now it’s time to dive into the specifics…
The Gaming Monitor: The SuperSolid PQ27 Pro
Starting with our choice of a gaming monitor, we look at the SuperSolid monitor lineup — with our particular model: the SuperSolid PQ27 Pro (last priced at SGD489). The monitor’s specifications include all 27-inches of glorious display, outputting at a 1440p @ 165Hz resolution on an IPS panel.
Though the landscape for gaming is slowly heading towards 4K, monitors that support it are still quite costly for consumers and the variety of games that natively support that resolution are still far and few in-between. We think 1440p stands as a good compromise between the current balance between value and performance.
Specifically for the PQ27 Pro, the refresh rate and response time it offers is quite intriguing. Fluidity and speed are all the rage, especially in E-sports where that split-second difference counts. At a 165Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time, the PQ27 Pro is right up there at the higher-end of the scale. It’s not the highest available, as seen in the quite frankly ridiculous 300+Hz monitors by some other brands, but it is comfortably above the 120Hz band that consoles will ever hope to push out.
The Gaming Keyboard: The SuperSolid DreamType DT-001
Can we actually call ourselves gamers, if we don’t have a fancy, RGB mechanical keyboard? That’s where the SuperSolid DreamType DT-001 (last priced at SGD129), comes in for us!
Granted that this is only the first keyboard model that SuperSolid currently has, its range of customisation is impressive – allowing you to choose between three switches to equip the keyboard with, depending on your preference of clickiness or tactility.
These aren’t the usual Cherry MX switches. Instead, the DreamType DT-001 uses Kaith Box switches. You can get either White, Brown or Red (Clicky, Tactile or Linear). If you’d ask us, we decided to go with the Kaith Box White switches for maximum gaming prowess.
Now onto the main course of the setup: THE RIG!
The Gaming PC: The Dreamcore Fuel
Gone were the days that PCs had to come in massive towers that take quite a bit of real estate underneath your desk. With the Dreamcore Fuel, our particular PC comes in a Mini-ITX format, the smallest of the Dreamcore Dream Builds.
Make no mistake! Not only is this small form factor space-saving (a critical consideration for a small city apartment or desk), it also gives you a really clean, minimalistic setup that’s sure to make it quite the desk piece.
Plus you have the option to customise your side panels with see-through glass side, letting you flex all that raw RGB lit gaming power. But as always, while aesthetics are always lovely to have, it is the guts of the PC that matter the most. And this has the power to boast.
Leveraging on the powerful combination of the AMD RYZEN 5 3600XT and the new NVIDIA RTX 3060TI, this beast of a PC (priced last at SGD2,500) should be able to tear through most games with ease while still running relatively smoothly. We’ve also included our full-specs sheet below, for all you tech-spec heavy nerds.
Putting It All Together: Our Complete Dreamcore + SuperSolid Setup
So we’ve done a quick brief on each of the products separately, so what’s it like once you put them all together?
Pure. Bliss.
The #GamerAesthetics you get is unapologetic from power-on, with both the keyboard and PC firing off that beautiful rainbow RGB-lighting. While it might not be as hardcore as some of the more aggressive builds on the web, it’s still pretty lit (literally)!
Perhaps the only real gripe for the visual setup is that the RGB lighting for the keyboard is a tad dim, which devalues the RGB setup a little, but it’s alright if it helps distract you less from the keys and more to the on-screen carnage.
Other than that, while the DreamType’s keys aren’t using the popular Cherry MXs, our choice of Kaith Box White switches still feel tactile and clicky, and the actuation force is satisfying when in use.
With that being said, there is a certain amount of caution to take note of if you prefer a specific keyboard switch type. Now we aren’t keyboard snobs (so our word isn’t gospel), but having tried out each of the three available switches, there wasn’t much difference between the Brown and Red (Tactile and Linear) switches in terms of feeling, if any for that matter.
It seems that the monitor also seems to lean towards function over aesthetics. Besides the minimalist design, the monitor has implemented a carrying handle at the top of the stand to allow for easy repositioning.
Frankly though, it isn’t very helpful given that it isn’t actually well-balanced (as from our experience it’s a little front-heavy, which can cause the entire monitor setup to tilt over on carrying).
While the carrying handle may be advertised, the monitor does have another feature not seen on the product page; changing the screen to a vertical position! But be warned: the screen’s size and the length of its stand mean that there isn’t much leeway in space to do so.
Ensure you raise the screen to its highest point first and tilt it at an angle before rotating the screen vertically. So while the feature is there to be used (which is excellent if you might have to work with spreadsheets or code on the side), we can see why it isn’t featured in the marketing.
Of course, how it looks is not enough to fully represent the complete setup: performance is king, and does exactly as advertised!
So How Much Does it Benchmark?
Our first tool for benchmarking was Cinebench R23, with the rig achieving a score of 9572 for its Multi-Core performance, and 1339 for its Single-Core performance. These are great scores for CPU performance and goes to show the power of the AMD Ryzen 5 3600XT, amongst the rest of the pretty recent chips out there.
Meanwhile, running 3DMark’s Time Spy garnered an overall score of 10535, and can be further broken down to show a GPU score of 11399. That falls within the parameters of what you’ll get with an RTX 3060TI.
In real-world performance, the PC shows little compromise – frequently getting even the most demanding games over the minimum 60fps mark. This includes some of the more recent titles like: Gears of War (i.e. Gears 5 and Gears Tactics), and Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and Control.
Gears 5, in particular, is an impressive showcase. Going above and beyond 60fps to just a little over 100fps with all graphical settings fully maxed out! It is no surprise then that competitive games also benefit from this power; a game like Valorant runs lightning-quick, performing at over 300fps while having the highest graphical settings being set.
And the monitor works in tandem with the high frame rate as well. The 165Hz refresh rate makes all that motion look smooth as butter while playing the game.
Bear in mind that all of the games mentioned are only running at 1440p — the highest resolution available on the monitor, which isn’t quite taxing as 4K. Still, garnering this level of performance in comparison to how they work on consoles is impressive!
So what does this all mean?
Here’s Our Lowdown (TL;DR)!
To start, our complete Dreamcore and SuperSolid setup cost a total of SGD3,118! While that kind of money is nothing to be sniffed at, it’s worth can be gleaned from the performance that it showcases. Besides that, warranty and servicing are all directly handled by Dreamcore and SuperSolid themselves, centralising any needs for it should you require those down the road. Sort of like how you can go back to Apple to service all your Apple devices.
The real question then becomes whether that cost is a compelling enough argument against DIY-ing your setup yourself. Taking the time to research, source and purchase your PC parts separately may turn out to be cheaper, it simply isn’t just worth the amount of time for some of us (may the higher powers help you, should you make any mistakes yourself during the build process).
Honestly, only you can answer that question; everyone’s budgets and styles are different. But if you do go our hybrid route of #TeamDreamcore and #TeamSuperSolid on your gaming setup, we’re pretty sure you’ll be plenty satisfied gaming on the hottest titles for 2021, even if your wallet may feel slightly lighter than it used to!
Our Dreamcore Fuel Full Technical Specifications
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600XT
- CPU COOLER: Dreamcore NEBULA 240
- Motherboard (Mobo): MSI MPG B550I Gaming Edge WiFi
- Memory (RAM): Patriot Viper 4 Blackout 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 3600 CL17
- Discrete Graphics (GPU): MSI RTX 3060 Ti VENTUS 2X OC 8GB
- Storage: Patriot VPN100 1TB M.2 2280 PCIE/ up to 3450MB R & 3000MB W
- Power Supply (PSU): SilverStone SST-SX700-G
- Chassis: Cooler Master NR200P TG White
- OPERATING SYSTEM (OS): Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64-bit
Our Benchmarking Scores
- 3D Mark’s TimeSpy: 10535 (Overall Score), with 11399 (GPU Score)
- CINEBENCH R23: 9572 (Multi-Core), with 1339 (Single-Core)
Quick Access: All Featured Products
- Gaming Monitor: SuperSolid PQ27 Pro
- Gaming Keyboard: SuperSolid DreamType DT-001
- Gaming PC Build: Dreamcore Fuel
This post is brought to you in collaboration with Dreamcore and SuperSolid.
Photos by Brandon Neo and Darren Chiong of the DANAMIC Team.
